Story of a runaway teenage girl raises questions about residential facility

EDITOR:
I was minding my own business in my yard, playing with my dog on a second day of cold weather on a late Friday afternoon two weeks ago when a young teenage girl walked up along my property. "Can I use your phone, & quot; she yelled. I looked over at her, said sure and pulled my cell phone out. I asked her what is the number and she replied, "I don't know; I'm lost."
I asked her if she knew the place she wanted to call, and she replied, Lincoln Place." I asked her to stay outside while I ran inside and looked in the phone book. I found Lincoln Place, Residential Campus for Youth at 800 E. Indianolia Ave. So, I dialed the number and talked to a lady and told her there is a young teenage girl at my residence, that she ran away from your facility and please come to my address and pick her up.
She wanted to know who the girl was, so I gave the phone to the girl and she talked to them. She too gave my address and phone number to them. We waited and talked. I was cold, and I knew she was too. So, I asked her to come in the house so we both can get warm and continued talking. She told me she had been outside for about three to four hours, walking around and tried to hitchhike. I gave her a Gatorade, some gloves and a couple of dollars.
We continued to talk and wait outside, then went back inside the house. No show, no call back from that Lincoln Place facility. I asked her a lot of questions about that place, and where she is originally from, which was Fremont, Ohio. She told me others have run away and that they are from other parts of Ohio. Also, that the facility is understaffed.
She said she just wanted to talk to a counselor, but their doors were locked and other counselors were walking the hallways, so she got mad and took off out the Fire Exit door.
When she told me she has been off her medication for two days, I got somewhat nervous but kept my composure.
Finally, I had enough of the no show so, I asked her if she trusted me and she replied, "Yes." So I told her that that facility is not far from my house that I would drive her back. I made sure I walked inside this facility with her, and there were a few women inside. One behind the counter said nothing, another grasped her 2-way radio and advised that the young teenage girl was back inside the facility. Neither one asked me anything; they just told me to leave.
Pretty ironic, I thought. It seems they really didn't give a crap about this girl. Just what kind of place is it, that these teens run away all the time? How is it funded? Are we safe in our neighborhoods?
LISA CERCONE
Youngstown